Buy Local

How often do you think about where you are spending your money and how it affects the local Grays Harbor economy?

Everyone is driven by many factors when they choose where and how to spend their money. If you're on a tight budget, price might play a bigger role in your decision making. If you care a lot about your image, you'll probably shell out the extra dough to buy the hottest brands. Or maybe you care about where your purchases come from, and so put in the effort to finding the most environmentally and socially responsible products to buy.

It's really a complicated equation, in the end. Somewhere in the back of our minds, we're working in all of the variables to find a solution which eventually leads us to Wal-Mart, the Olympia Mall or online.

So what impact do these decisions make on our community? Turns out, it's a big deal. Take these facts from The 3/50 Project:



I'm sure you've heard this before: "There's nowhere to shop on the Harbor!"

First of all, I beg to differ, but that's not my point today. The more each of us chooses to spend at local businesses in Grays Harbor, the more money will stay in Grays Harbor and the more attractive the area will look to other people looking to start a business. At some point, we have to consider it an investment. That means we put the economy as a top priority and move the other priorities down the line so that eventually we can make this a great place to live and shop!

The 3/50 Project is a great way to get started. Each month, choose 3 local businesses you like and spend $50 (or as much as you can afford) at each of those locations. If you're looking for places to shop local, we've even created a list of amazing local businesses that you should check out.

This could be the year that we commit to supporting Grays Harbor and start rebuilding the local economy!